Apparatus for feeding articles



May 7, 1929. c. KNOTH APPARATUS FOR FEEDING ARTICLES Filed June 16, 19253 Sheets-Sheet avwewcoz: Conrad Knoll), $51 0/ abhor/1401 May 7, 1929.c, KNOTH 1,712,081

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING ARTICLES Filed June 16, 1923 3-Sheets-Sheet 2Conrad [(nozb,

May 7,1929. KNOTH 1,712,081

A-PPARATUS FOR FEEDING ARTICLES Filed June 16, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 3i'vwantomz F 4 C 1M4 ltfommm u.

Patented May 7, 1929.

users. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

oonnan KNOEE, or nnmsrnn, NEW JERSEY, Assrenon TO onus-silt Morons conPORAJIIQN, or ns'rnorr, n'rcrrrean, A conroaa'rronr DELAWARE.

AEPARA'IUS FOR FEEDING ARTICLES.

Application filed .Tune 16', 1923. Serial No. 645,783.

This invention relates to feeding apparatus and is herein shown asembodied in an appaiatus for feeding hollow rollers that go into rollerbearings.

In the manufacture of'hollow rollers for boa-rings, it has been thepractice, prior to this invention, to harden the rollers by passing themslowly through a furnace and quenching them in a bath of cooling liquid.Upon such prior apparatus, groups of rollers are laid by hand, side byside, on cast iron frames and these frames with the rollers are sliddown an inclined track in the furnace while the rollers are subjected todirect contact with the hot gases heating the fur nace. As the rollersleave the end of the furnace, they leave the frames and drop sidewiseinto the liquid. The hot frames then have to be removed by tongs andallowed to cool before being loaded again. This kind of apparatusrequires several operators, some to load the rollers, and some to removethe frames; the rollers are exposed to the impurities in the products ofcombustion and are not quenched uniformly becausethe air imprisoned inthe rollers when they drop sidewise into the liquid, retards the entryof the liquid into the inside of the rollers. The inclination of thetrack necessitates the raising of one end of the furnace above the otherand the workmen at the high end are obliged to work in an awkwardposition on a raised platform.

It is accordingly one of the objects of this invention to provide afeeding apparatus for articles which will require less labor andattention and perform better work. In the illustrated construction, noloading frames are used; the rollers are fed from a hopper and pushedthrough the furnace in a stream in end-to-end relation. To shield therollers from the flames, they are directed through hollow tubestraversing the furnace and then to quench them quickly, they are made todrop cndwise into the cooling bath, the liquid thus entering the centerof each roller as fast as it rises on the outside.

Figure l with a portion of the furnace shown in section.

Figure 8 is a section on the line 33 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a detail view of one of the feed rollers.

Figure 5 is a vertical longitudinal section through the furnace andFigure 6 is a plan view of the furnace with the upper half removed.

The 'work pieces to be treated, in this case hollow cylindrical rollersmade of spirally wound steel ribbons, are placed in a hopper andpickedup and fed in end-to-end relation through hollow tubes and dropped intoa; second set of tubes through which their speed is regulated by feedrollers, the rollers then passing very slowly through tubes traversing afurnace after which they are quenched in a bath of liquid. The numeral10 designates a hopper having inclined sides 12, the lower edges ofwhich are flanged as an and secured to the outer pair of a series ofangle irons 16 which form an inclined bottom for the hopper. arearranged with their apexes upwardly and are slightly spaced apart toform slots extending longitudinally through the bottom of the hopper.Thus a series of upwardly, open channels are formed which causetherollers to align themselves by gravity at the bottoms of the channels.The work pieces are theii picked up and fed in end-toend relation byseries of feeding fingers or pushers 18, projecting through the slots inthehopper and secured to bars 20 which are guided between the flanges ofangle irons 22 and 24-. The bars are con nectcd by two endless sprocketchains 26 which pass around sprocket wheels -28 on the driven shaft 30and around sprocket wheels 3 on a shaft 32, journaled in the frame ofthe hopper.

To prevent any breakage of the parts in case the rollers become jammed,the shaft 30 is frictionally driven so that it can slip. A disc 38 isfixed to the shaft 30 and, spaced from this disc, is a second disc 40which is pressed towards the first disc by springs 42 interposed betweenthe first disc and the. heads of a series of bolts fixed to the seconddisc. A snocl-tot rin dd is thus ieldin 'l The angle irons 16 journaledon the "frame. It should be noted that the bars 20 and feeding fingers18 are guided at a slight angle to the course of the channels in thehopper so that the feedtingers ot' each set gradually leave the channelsand transfer the feeding action to the next succeeding set. As therollers slide upwardly in the channels, they enter a series of tubes 52which in efiect .t'orm continuations, of the channels and extendupwardly to a bracket 54- by which they are attached to a. second set oftube sections and 62. As the rollers emergefrom the open ends of thetubes on they drop into the open or cut-away portions 58 ot the tubesections 60. lhey are fed from the tubes 52 taster than they can becarried away by the tube sections Gil, the ex- 0 rollers dropping into apan 5G by which they are directed back into the hopper again.

The tube sections 60 and (52 torm an inclined conduit or guide throughwhich the rollers tend to feed themselves by gravity. The sections 62are bent in a. gradual curve and are joined by horizonta tube sections6st and 66 to a series of tubes 68 extending into the'fire box of thefurnace 70. The rollers are lied very slowly through the furnace and toregulate their speed, feeding discs 72 and Tel are provided. The feedingdiscs 72 of one set are fixed to a, horizontal shaft T6 which is movablymounted and the discs Tel: of the other set are mounted on a shaft 78ournaled in a bracket on the frame. The sha l t 78 is driven at slowspeed by a worm wheel 80 at one end, engaged by the worm 82. The shaft7'6 is driven at the same speed and in the opposite direction from theshaft 78 through the medium of sprocket wheels 8- 1 and 86 near the endsof the respective shafts and a l cnain directed about the sprocketwheels and the large sprocket wheel 88 in the manner indicated in dottedlines in Figure 2.

The tube sections (A are slotted above and below (see Figure 6) oppositethe teed discs so that the latter will have access to the rollers beingfed. The upper set of iced discs is yieldingly pressed towards the otherset, the shaft 76 being mounted in lever arms 90 pivoted at 92 tobrackets on the frame and pressed downwardly by weights 96 attached tothe lower ends of bars 9% that are pivotally hung in the ends of thelever arms 90. As indicated in Figure 4%, the discs 72 are provided witha yieldable mounting so that the pressure on the rollers in thediiterent streams will be equalized in case they vary in diameter. Themounting consists of a series of coil springs 73 bearing against theinner surfaces of the discs and set in radial sockets 75 in a hub memberfixed to the shaft 76. The discs are 1 n-et'erably toothed and areconfined against axial movement by end collars 77. In view of themovable mounting of the shaft 76, tension on the sprocket chain ismaintained by movably mounting the sprocket wheel 88 between links 98pivoted to a bracket 100 on the frame and by attaching a weight 102 to abifurcated bar 10 1- hung on the shaft of the sprocket wheel. The tubesections G l are supported by plates 1.06 and 1.08 adjustably secured tobrackets and 112 by bolting them in slots in these last named numbers.

Referring to Figures 5 and (3, it will be seen that the furnace 70 isdivided horizontally and longitudinally and that the upper section isprovided with eye bolts 116, by means of which the section may be liftedaway from its corresponding halt, through the medium of a ditlerentialhoist or the like. 7 This gives ready access to the lower lining in caseit is desired to renew it or to the tubes 68 when they become burnt out.At the outlet end of the furnace are a series of hoods 124, each havinga cylindrical portion 126 sleeved over one of the tubes 68, saidcylindrical portion opening into a chamber having flat parallel sides128 to keep the rollers in alignment. The top'oi the chamber is curvedat 130 to make room for the rollers to tilt preparatory to sliding downthe inclined bottom 132 into a bath 13d of liquid. To allow readyinspection of the work each hood is provided with a peep hole 136 on alevel with the furnace tube 68, the hole being closed by a hinged cover138. lVhen the rollers drop endwise the liquid is enabled to enter thecore or inside as fast as it mounts on the outside and hence the rollersare quenched uniformly. The furnace is heated by liquid fuel suppliedthrough a supply pipe 122 having at intervals suitable valves andburners extending towards the furnace. lVhen the last rollers oi? abatch have been conducted through the inclined tubes 02 to the "feeddiscs, the lower ends of the tubes 2 can be uncoupled and turned to oneside on the axis of the upper coupling, thus permitting a long rod to bethrust through the -furnace tubes to push out the remaining rollers.

Although the invention has been described by referring to a specificapparatus it should be understood that in its broader aspects theinvention is not necessarily limited to the specific structure selectedfor illustration.

1 claim:

1. ln a lparatus for treating work pieces, in combination, a tube forguiding a stream of work pieces in end-to-end relation and having aslot, a feed disc projecting through said slot into contact with saidwork pieces, and means for rotating said disc to push the work piecesalong in a stream, substantially as described.

2. In apparatus for treating work pieces, in combination, a tube forguiding a stream of work pieces in end-to-end relation and having aslot, a feed disc projecting through said slot into contact with one ofsaid work pieces, means for pressing said disc "against said work piece,and means for rotatingsaid disc to push the work pieces along in astream, substantially as described.

In apparatus for treating work pieces, in (xmibination, a tube forguiding a stream of work pieces in end-to-end relation and havingopposite slots, feed discs projecting through said slots into contactwith opposite sides of said work pieces, and means for rotating saiddiscs to regulate the feed of the work pieces, substantially asdescribed.

1-. In apparatus for treating work pieces, in combination, a tube forguiding a stream of work pieces in end-to-end relation and havingopposite slots, feed discs projecting through said slots into contactwith opposite sides of said work pieces, means for yieldingly pressingone of the said discs towards the other to grip said work between them,and means for rotating said discs, substantially as described.

5. In apparatus for treating rollers, in combination, a series of tubesfor guiding streams of rollers in end-to-end relation and having slotsparallel to the axes of the tubes, a shaft, feed discs secured to saidshaft and having yielding peripheries entering said slots for equalizingcontact with rollers of different diameters, and means for rotating saidshaft, substantially as described.

6. In apparatus for treating work pieces, in combination, a tube forguiding a stream of work pieces in end-to-end relation and having aslot, a feed disc projecting through said slot into contact with saidwork pieces, a pivoted support for said disc, means for swinging saidpivoted support in a direction to press the disc against the workpieces, and means for rotating said disc; substantially as described.

7. In apparatus for treating work pieces, in combination, a hopperhaving an upwardly open channel in the bottom face to cause the workpieces to align by gravity, said channel having a longitudinal slot in,its base, an endless chain supported below the hopper and a series offingers having con nection to the chain and arranged to project throughthe slot in the channel, and means for driving the chain to push thealigned pieces along in end-toend relation; substantially as described.

S. In apparatus for treating work pieces, in con'ibination, a hopperhaving an upwardly open channel in the bottom face to cause the workpieces to align by gravity, an endless chain. supported below thehopper, a series of fingers having connection to the chain and arrangedto successively traverse the channel to push the aligned pieces along inend-to-end relation, and means for guiding the fingers in a path at aslight angle to the length of the channel to cause the fingers tosuccessively leave the channel and transfer the pushing action to thefollowing fingers substantially as described.

9. In apparatus forttreating work pieces, in combination, a hopperhaving upwardly open channels in the bottom face to cause the workpieces to align by gravity, an endless attached to each bar and eachprojecting into one of the channels to push the aligned pieces along inend-to-end relation, means for guiding the bars and fingers at a slightangle to the length of the channel to cause the fingers to successivelyleave the channel and transfer the pushing action to the followingfingers, and means to drive the chains substantially as described.

11. In apparatus for treating rollers, in combination, a hopper havingan upwardly open channel in the bottom face to cause the work pieces toalign by gravity, a series of fingers projecting through the bottom ofthe hopper and arranged to enter each channel, driving means for movingthe fingers lengthwise of the channel to pick up and feed a stream ofwork pieces in end-to-end relation, and a slip connection in saiddriving means; substantially as described.

12. In apparatus for treating Work pieces, in combination, a guide forreceiving a stream of work pieces in end-to-end relation and inclined tothe horizontal to feed the work pieces by gravity, feed discs engagingthe workpieces for regulating the speed of the work pieces through theguide and for controlling their subsequent. traverse, and

means for directing a supply of work pieces to the entrance end of theguide; substantially as described. I

13. In apparatus for treating work pieces, in combination, a guide forreceiving a stream of work pieces in end-to-end relation and inclined tothe horizontal to feed the work pieces by gravity, driven rollersongaging the work-pieces for regulating the speed of the work piecesthrough the guide, a hopper, means for raising the work pieces from thehopper and feeding them to the entrance end of the guide at a greaterspeed than they pass through the guide, and means for returning theexcess pieces to the hopper; substantially as described.

14. Inapparatus fortreatlng work pieces,

in combination, a guide for receiving a and means for pushing the workpieces in stream of Work pieces in end-to-end relation a stream to theopen end of the second guide 10 and inclined to the horizontal to feedthe to drop them into the entrance end of the Work pieces by gravity,means engaging the first guide; substantially as described. Work-piecesfor regulating the speed of the In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix myWork pieces through the guide, a second signature.

guide comprising a tube extending to a point above the entrance end ofthe first guide, v CONRAD KNOTH.

